I am incredibly grateful to those professors who did not have the answers. They taught me that I could have these big questions and believe the things I believed and still call myself a Christian.
Theological Studies and Christian Ministries
Minor
Read the texts, ask the hard questions
Theology here means asking hard questions, not memorizing easy ones.
The theological studies and christian ministries minor at Goshen College centers on four areas. You’ll study biblical texts, theology, Christian ethics, and church history.
You’ll read scripture as literature and history. You’ll have spirited discussions about ethics. Throughout your studies, you’ll trace how the church got from the first century to now, while taking faith seriously.
Your work here shows up in peace building, service, and care for people. It also pairs well with several majors. These include religion, education, music, peace and justice studies and social work, among many others.
What the minor covers
- Biblical Texts: Read scripture closely as literature, history, and argument.
- Theology and Ethics: Wrestle with the big questions where disagreement is the point.
- Church History: Trace two thousand years of the church, including the Anabaptist-Mennonite story Goshen comes from.
- Ministry Practice: Move from text to practice through worship leadership on campus.
View the complete program requirements in our catalog.
Do the work, not just the reading
Through the Ministry Inquiry Program, you spend a summer in a mentored pastoral internship somewhere across the U.S., with support and a mentor the whole way. You’ll be doing real, supervised work, not just observing from the sidelines.
On campus, you can lead chapel, coordinate prayer and worship gatherings, and join service projects through Campus Ministries. Classes and the academic spaces for worship planning sit in GC’s Church-Chapel, the center of spiritual life on campus.
Eli Reimer '21
Research Assistant at Yale Divinity School
Paying for Goshen
Goshen is committed to affordability, and all students are automatically considered for academic scholarships based on GPA and test scores, alongside need-based aid. To see your own price after aid, run the net price calculator or explore your options at the financial aid and scholarships pages.
Common questions about the theological studies and christian ministries minor
You’ll study biblical texts, theology, Christian ethics, and church history, through the lens of the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. Courses include Biblical Themes of Peace, Ethics and Morality, History of Christianity, Introduction to Theology, Jesus and the Gospels, Spiritual Formation and Worship and Preaching. See the course catalog for the full requirements.
Through the Ministry Inquiry Program, you spend a summer in a mentored pastoral internship somewhere across the U.S., with support throughout. On campus, you can lead chapel, coordinate worship and prayer gatherings, and join service projects through Campus Ministries.
The religion major is a full course of study in biblical and theological scholarship, while this minor is designed to pair with another major, adding theological grounding plus a practical ministry component through the Ministry Inquiry Program. Choose the minor if faith study will complement your primary field rather than be the center of it.
With 45 Christian denominations represented among Goshen’s students and community, classroom discussion draws on a genuinely wide range of theological perspectives rather than a single tradition’s assumptions. You’ll be asked to understand and engage traditions different from your own, not just study your own more deeply.
With 91% of classes under 30 students, professors get to know your specific faith background and questions well enough to point you toward off-campus placements and class readings suited and readings suited to where you actually are, not a one-size-fits-all track. That personal guidance matters in a subject where the hardest questions are often personal ones.
Luke Kreider
Associate Professor of Religion and Sustainability
Breanna Nickel
Associate Professor of Bible & Religion
